Grateful Dead Hour no. 519

By David Gans

Average: 2.3 (3 votes)
Grateful Dead Hour by David Gans

Week of August 31, 1998

Interview with David Grisman recorded live on the air at KPFA July 29, 1998, at the time of the release of the Jerry Garcia-David Grisman CD So What, a collection of jazz instrumentals.

The first song in this broadcast, Take 1 of Miles Davis' "So What," was the first piece of music Jerry and Dawg recorded in David's studio with the David Grisman Quintet's rhythm section, Jim Kerwin (bass) Joe Craven (percussion).

Grisman also tells the story of how he and Jerry met in 1964 when they were young bluegrass freaks, "chasin' the high lonesome sound around with [their] tape recorders"; how he came to play mandolin on "Friend of the Devil" and "Ripple" in the sessions for the Grateful Dead's American Beauty (1970); and how their latter-day collaboration began with a couple of chance meetings in 1990.

We also hear a few selections from the first (and I'm pretty sure only) comedy release on Grisman's Acoustic Disc label: Buh-Doom!, by the legendary session drummer Hal Blaine.

And friends, I swear it was a complete surprise to me when Grisman invited me to play my then-new CD single, "Monica Lewinsky." I had brought a copy to give to him, and the next thing I knew he was asking me to play it on the air.

And as a lagniappe at the end of the broadcast, David tells a sweet story about how his composition "16/16" got its name.

David Grisman interviewed on KPFA's Dead to the World July 29, 1998

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, So What
SO WHAT (Take 1 12/6/90)

Grateful Dead, American Beauty
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, So What
BAGS' GROOVE (Take 5 11/24/92)

Hal Blaine, Buh-Doom!
DRUMMERS
RAT IN A PAWN SHOP
ACCORDION PLAYER
OVER THE RAINBOW

David Gans and the Broken Angels
MONICA LEWINSKY

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, So What
16/16

You can browse and/or search the Grateful Dead Hour program logs on the GD Hour web site. Let me know if there's a particular program you'd like to hear, and feel free to post requests and comments here or by email to gdhour@dead.net

Thanks for listening!

David Gans
gdhour@dead.net

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Comments

"Lagniappe"

On May 7th, 2008 cactuswax said:

That one's gotta be worth at least a dollar.
Thanks again for another great show, Gans!

love that mando -

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On May 7th, 2008 hey_bob said:

true jazz So What - the album - and a wonderful interview/conversation. Great music this show, David -
...speaking of humor - Stan Freberg - the satire guy - did a pretty funny song about Monica Lewinsky, Tara Lipinski, and Theodore Kaczynski - its mad!
Thanks for another great hour

Now, if I could only pronounce it . . .

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On May 7th, 2008 JDHOG said:

Lagniappe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Lagniappe (disambiguation).
Lagniappe means a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase, such as a 13th beignet when buying a dozen, or more broadly something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure; a bonus.[1] The word is used in Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Eastern Oklahoma, Southern Arkansas, Charleston,SC, southern and western Mississippi, the gulf coast of Alabama, and parts of eastern Texas. It was also once in common usage by antiquarian booksellers, without regional limitation, and is still used by more old-fashioned members of that tribe.[citation needed]
It is derived from the American Spanish phrase la ñapa (la, "the"; ñapa a variant of yapa, "something that is added"). The term has been traced back to the Quechua word yapay (which means "to increase; to add"). In Andean markets it is still customary to ask for a "yapa" when making a purchase. The seller usually responds by throwing in a little extra. Although this is an old custom, it is still widely practiced today in Louisiana. This custom is also widely practiced in southeast Asia. Street vendors, especially vegetable vendors, are expected to throw in a few green chillies or a small bunch of cilantro with a decent purchase. The Punjabi term for this is "choonga".

"She has no pain, like a child, she is pure, she is not to blame."

"Lagniappe" elucidation

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On May 8th, 2008 dgans said:

Thanks for the info! So it's a sort of Francophony coinage...

Gans/GD Hour blog
GD Hour station list

So What

On May 13th, 2008 burntbabyboomer said:

First take! First take! Unfuknbelievable!

Gans , you re the best = ) the best

On May 18th, 2008 Jaime said:

The So What is just so DARN Hot !! The solos are screaming w talent . For a first take of Jerry and Grisman together it s absolutely mind boggling how good they blended together professionally and as musicians / friends

Bags groove is REALLY nice . Awesome Dead Hour . Ive seen in the DH logs that DH # 254 is another one with lots of Jerry / grisman contributions . ( hint hint DG = ) ] Peace and thanks for having this QUality space for the deadicated

J G --